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| Les Gets |
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| Chalet 'Pas
de Chèvre' |
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| Top of the
World! |
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| - around Les Gets |
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| Sun worship
Les Gets style |
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| The local area |
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| Matthew Lacey
at speed off piste!!! |
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Les
Gets is a charming resort village
sitting at an altitude of 1,172m in a sunny col between Cluses and
Morzine/Avoriaz. It consists largely of traditional chalets and
chalet-style hotels and apartments. There are shops and restaurants
to suit all tastes, an open-air ice rink and a bowling alley. The
night life is modest but lively, with one nightclub and several
late-night bars, and the busy market town and ski resort of Morzine
is only a short taxi-ride away.
Winter Sports
Les Gets has extensive local skiing shared with Morzine and is also
part of the Portes du Soleil ski area, the largest linked ski area
in the world. In addition, the resorts of Flaine, Megève
and Chamonix are within easy reach for day trips.
Our favourites:
Portes du Soleil - Les Gets,
Morzine
Beginners
– Extensive mid-mountain nursery slopes at Les Chavannes accessed
by drag lift from La Turche or the Les Perrierre high speed chair
lift accessed via La Turche.
Intermediates
– The whole area is ideal, but favourites are the runs back
to the chalet at La Turche, the Ranfolly sector, and for stronger
intermediates the red runs served by the La Charniaz express chairlift.
Experts
– Steeper terrain and off-piste at Mont Chèry (north
facing slopes are best), Pointe de Nyon and La Chamossière.
Other Portes du Soleil.
Access points
– Best access points are either at Les Prodains or Ardent:
Les Prodains (10 minutes by car from Les Gets) has a large car park
and direct access via cable car to Avoriaz;
Ardent (15 minutes by car from Les Gets) also has car parking and
gondola access to Les Lindarets, a small hamlet in the heart of
the Portes du Soleil;
Morzine (8 minutes by car from Les Gets) has car parking near the
Super Morzine gondola. Alternatively ski to Morzine via La Turche,
Ranfolly and down Pleney into Morzine, then take the train to the
Super Morzine gondola.
Beginners
– Les Lindarets has some of the most enjoyable greens and
blues in the Portes du Soleil.
Intermediates
– Les Lindarets sector has beautiful blues and reds, and the
runs from here towards Chatel are particularly good. For stronger
intermediates the red runs to Les Crosets are long and steep in
sections.
Experts
– Great blacks in the Les Prodains sector, the infamous Swiss
Wall, long steep reds at La Linga above Chatel. The whole area has
extensive and underrated off-piste – take a guide.
Flaine
Access
– Easiest access from Les Gets is via the new gondola at Samoëns
(20 minutes by car from Les Gets). This takes you up to Samoëns
1600, from where you can ski to the main Flaine bowl.
Skiing
– Ideal day trip from Les Gets. Flaine has high, snowsure
skiing in a large north facing bowl. An extensive area offering
skiing for all standards and extensive off-piste possibilities (guide
required – local geology means that crevasse-like holes are
common off-piste).
Megève
Access
– 50 minutes by car from Les Gets in the direction of Chamonix.
Skiing
– Beautiful and extensive ski area similar in style to the
Portes du Soleil, with lots of attractive tree-lined skiing.
Chamonix
Access
– 60 minutes by car from Les Gets.
Skiing
– Home of extreme skiing and mountaineering, best enjoyed
with a guide who will endeavour to keep you out of the crevasses.
Les Grandes Montets above the village of Argentière has endless
off-piste possibilities. The Vallée Blanche is a lifetime
must-do, classic route can be completed by confident intermediates,
other descents offer more challenges.
Getting there By Road
Les Gets has very easy access by road. From Calais, the journey
is 540 miles, all autoroute apart from the last 15 miles, and can
be done in 8hrs driving time. It is legally required to have snow
chains in the car in winter, but they are seldom needed, as the
road is usually kept well-cleared.
Although a car is useful for access to the ski areas, it is by no
means essential. You can ski from and back to the chalet, and even
in poor snow conditions, the walk carrying skis is only about 75m
and the shops and restaurants are within walking distance. The links
to Avoriaz and the rest of the Portes du Soleil can be made on skis.
Flights
Geneva is the nearest and most convenient airport, which is just
slightly over one hour travel time by car. Geneva is extremely well
served by both low-cost carriers and the major airlines. Don’t
discount the majors - fares can often match the low cost carriers
providing you intend to travel return. If you intend to fly and
hire a car it is also worth considering alternative airports such
as Chambery (approx. 1 _ hours) which tend to be less busy in peak
season.
Routes and timetables change frequently, so check carrier websites
for the latest information:
EasyJet
– www.easyjet.com
fly from Luton and Gatwick several times daily, twice daily from
Liverpool and once daily from East Midlands.
Ryanair
– www.ryanair.com
(was Buzz) used to fly from Stansted to Geneva, Chambery (1.5hrs'
drive), Grenoble (2hr) and Dijon (2.5hr), but were no longer doing
so in late 2003. The nearest airport they now serve is St Etienne,
the far side of Lyon, about 2 _ -3 hours drive from Les Gets. However,
worth looking at their website to see if new routes have started.
Swiss International and British
Airways - www.ba.com
Swiss and BA are now in partnership, you probably only need to check
the BA site for flights with either carrier. They fly many times
each day from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports. Both can
be very competitive on price compared with the budget airlines.
British Midland
– www.flymybaby.com
fly daily from East Midlands to Geneva.
British European
– www.flybe.com
fly daily from Southampton to Geneva and to Chambery.
Ski Transfer
We offer ski transfers from Geneva Airport from a Company called Ski Lifts. Our prices are lower then the normal transfer price.please enquire.
Taxis
We have included a partial list of taxi services taken from the
Les Gets and Morzine Tourist Office brochures. Most operate 7-seater
people-movers for airport transfers. We have no personal experience
of using any of these for airport transfers, but we believe the
cost is typically Euro110 to Euro160+, depending on the number of
people and the time of travel.
Landline / Fax / Mobile
Alp'Services Heritier
+33 (0)4-50-75-81-05 / 87-45 +33 (0)6-11-95-02-26
Anthonioz Jean
+33 (0)4-50-75-87-46 +33 (0)6-09-44-66-52
Blanc Joseph
+33 (0)4-50-75-83-77 +33 (0)6-89-30-37-74
Costantini Gerard
+33 (0)4-50-75-83-30 +33 (0)6-09-33-99-44
Gallay Pierre
+33 (0)4-50-75-70-88 +33 (0)6-07-80-48-13
ADA (Car hire & taxi)
+33 (0)4-50-79-22-09 +33 (0)6-08-00-50-00
Allo Centrale Taxis
+33 (0)4-50-79-51-30 +33 (0)6-08-86-00-00
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